Renegade Hearts
by silvermaiden19
Summary: They were supposed to be sworn enemies but pureblood Kaname finds himself drawn towards Zero, the reclusive hunter whose blood brings death and whose single touch brings pain. Kaname never expected to fall in love with the only being that could destroy him…yet, how could he spend eternity without Zero by his side?


**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the Vampire Knight characters that would be appearing in this fanfiction. This story is only done for fun and entertainment. =)

 **Summary:** They were supposed to be sworn enemies but pureblood Kaname finds himself drawn towards Zero, the reclusive hunter whose blood brings death and whose single touch brings pain. Kaname never expected to fall in love with the only being that could destroy him…yet, how could he spend eternity without Zero by his side?

 **Full Summary:** After the horrific tragedy four years ago, Kiryuu Zero had lost not only his family but the chance to be a normal person. Bearing a terrible and powerful curse that destroys everything he touches, he must continue to live the life his parents wanted for him – the path of a vampire hunter. His future is set but despair soon begins to take root as he goes through life without knowing the touch of another, forgetting the feel of another person's skin, and knowing that any hope of being intimate with someone is impossible. As he succumbs to his darkness, hope once again comes in the form of pureblood vampire, Kuran Kaname. A chance meeting in a moonlit night sets in motion an event that would bind their fates together. As the pureblood awakens desires within Zero that would have him wanting to get rid of his ability, an old enemy stirs from the shadows wanting the hunter's powers for himself…

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 **Renegade Hearts**

01

 _ **The Cursed One**_

* * *

" _I've always wanted what other people had. A normal life."_

 _Zero Kiryuu_

* * *

Kiryuu Zero was uncomfortable.

Not that he would ever admit that little tidbit out loud.

His mentor disliked his apprentices showing any form of weaknesses and his partner would whine about how he was ruining his so-called badass image.

But with the way he grew up, far from civilization or people in general, he had the impression that it was a given. Being in Cross Academy – a location teeming with so many people – made him feel terribly restless. He wasn't used to these kinds of setting and he considered it a small blessing on his part that it was already late at night. It meant that there would be no one to bother him on his casual stroll across the academy grounds.

He considered this activity much more preferable than staying inside the chairman's house. It wasn't like he was needed at the meeting between his mentor and the chairman of Cross Academy. Plus, he was bored out of his mind just waiting in that room with nothing much to do. So here he was, just walking without any destination in mind.

It truly was a nice night for a stroll and he would've enjoyed it much better if he didn't have a constant ache pounding on his head. The main cause was that his sixth sense regarding the presence of vampires had been going haywire since he entered the academy grounds. His mentor did say that he was one of the most powerful sensors in the Hunter Association. He should've expected the head ache to happen considering that Cross Academy was Cross Kaien's newest project for the co-existence of humans and vampires. Since it was night time, the vampire students were the ones using the classrooms.

Zero rubbed the heel of his gloved hand in his eye. Looking around, he saw that he was alone and so he pulled the hood of his jacket off. He wanted to feel the cool wind on his skin right then since he didn't have many opportunities to do so if he was outside his house.

He definitely couldn't wait to get back to his home and far away from this place.

A stray thought then entered his mind and he nearly groaned out loud when he remembered that his next assignment was in this same town. It only meant one thing: _He_ was going to have to rent an apartment at a place filled with a lot of people and in turn forcing him to interact with them on a daily basis in order to avoid any kind of suspicion.

He could already picture about how it would become a nightmare.

Unlike Takamiya Kaito, his permanent partner in the Hunter Association and long time friend, he wasn't even the least bit excited about their new mission. Although it was a bit of an improvement from their last assignment – tracking a rogue vampire in the middle of a snowstorm. That particular memory made him wince involuntarily. He could still remember Kaito complaining about the crappiness of that mission.

Of course, he was a bit flattered that despite still being on his late teens, the president of the association had given him an assignment fit for a veteran vampire hunter.

He wondered if it was because he was a celebrity in the vampire hunter community. He wished it wasn't like that. What he wouldn't give to be a nameless someone in the association? After all, getting well known for being the only survivor of a family massacre wasn't something to be proud of. If anything, he wanted to leave that terrible night behind. Not to mention all those idiot vampires calling his name out whenever he was on a hunt. Apparently surviving an attack by a mad pureblood vampire was considered an impossibility. Hence, his rather infamous reputation.

 _Very annoying._

He remembered Kaito telling him once that he was also well known for the way he dressed himself – all black, completely covered from head to toe. There was a rumor going on that he had some sort of skin disease or that his body was so scarred he tried to hide it and even if it wasn't true, he decided to just let the rumors be. After all, it was much more believable than the truth. Only a few people knew his secret and among them were Kaito and his mentor, Yagari Touga.

His secret was that during the night of his parents' murder, he gained a terrible ability.

It was that ability that helped him survive the tragedy with his humanity still intact. That pureblood woman, Hiou Shizuka, had left him alive just so she could turn him into an ex-human vampire. A status that would have ruined his standing in the Hunter Association and would have made him an outcast of both the human world and vampire world. But because of his newborn ability, that turned out to be an impossible task. The moment the pureblood woman touched him, she was brought to her knees in extreme agony and as soon as she regained herself, she moved as far away from him as possible.

He would never forget the look of stark fear on her eyes that said clearly that _he_ was the monster. _Not her._

Yagari Touga was the one who took him in and discovered more about his supposed ability. How it came to be was still largely unknown but he did learn that aside from his touch causing extreme pain, his blood also had poisonous properties and he could heal any injuries on himself at a very fast rate. His main problem at the moment was that he could not turn it off and unless he found a way to control this curse he would never be able to touch anyone ever again.

His future pretty much ceased to exist at that revelation.

Having found no current solution to the problem, he dressed himself in a way that would avoid skin contact as much as possible. He took extra care to make sure that every part of himself was covered. He wore a jacket with its large hood usually pulled up to hide his features, long-sleeved turtleneck shirt, leather gloves, and jeans tucked into ankle-length boots.

With the way he dressed, his dislike of being touched and his rather reclusive behavior, he was considered another weird character in the vampire hunter community. He despaired a bit when he was lumped in together with the likes of Cross Kaien, Takamiya Kaito, and Inoue Karina. It really wasn't a big deal to him what they thought. He stopped interacting much with others since the incident but there was one special person who broke through the barriers he created.

 _Anya…_

She was the one who looked past those rumors and saw the real Kiryuu Zero. She healed his wounds with her kindness and gentle smiles. He had loved her and he wanted nothing more than to be with her for the rest of his life. The months he spent with her were his happiest moments but it seemed that fate had dictated his life to be an endless hell. He had soon lost her in a vampire attack. Her death had struck him hard and in his moment of grief, he had hunted down and killed the vampires that caused her untimely demise.

Revenge felt so empty.

He had ended the existence of those who killed her but he realized that the act would never bring her back. In fact, it only made him feel worse in the end. He felt as if he sullied her memory by bathing it with blood. She deserved to be remembered as more than being an instrument for revenge.

' _I love you, Zero-kun. You're the best thing that ever happened in my life.'_

Memories that he was trying not to think about fully flashed before his eyes and everything inside him twisted upside down and inside out. He held his head in his hands and wished he could pull his thoughts away from the horror show that replayed in his mind.

… _the heavy rain that night felt cold on his skin…_

… _Anya, bloody and battered, lay unnaturally above the trash with tears clinging to her face…_

… _her once vibrant green eyes were dulled in death…_

… _blood everywhere…_

… _tears mingling with the rain…._

… _anger…_

… _pain…_

… _despair…_

"Who are you and what are you doing here?"

Zero was instantly brought out of his memories and he whipped around, hand instantly bringing out his anti-vampire gun. He managed to stop himself before he pulled the trigger and accidentally shot an innocent passerby.

"Ah, I see now. It must be you who was leaking that unstable presence inside Cross Academy," the voice said coldly, getting closer now.

The silver-haired hunter choked on air as a figure came into view. It was a young man who had wavy brown hair and garnet-colored eyes.

This was no doubt Kuran Kaname, the pureblood prince who was currently the head of the night class, the future head of the Vampire Council, and the vampire who he had met in passing all those years ago. It was back when he still considered himself a normal human being and when he still had a bright future ahead of him.

 _Damn it._

He resisted the urge to bang his head against a hard surface. At this rate, he was going to fall into chronic depression. If he didn't manage to snap himself out of those kinds of thoughts, he would continually hinder his progress and his mentor would never let him out of his sight once again. Yagari Touga could be so overprotective at times.

"Hello, is anyone in there?" Kaname peered intently at his face.

Zero suddenly snapped out of his daze. "Sorry, what?"

"I inquired as to who you are and what you are doing here. I also mentioned that you have quite an unstable presence. As you should know, trespassing is forbidden in the academy grounds," the pureblood said, terse and businesslike.

"I am not trespassing."

Kaname gave him a dark, skeptical look. "Oh? Then why are you here? I am quite certain that you are not a student here."

"I believe that it's none of your business what I'm doing here, pureblood," Zero said, his tone very much antagonistic and it made him wince inwardly.

 _This is what happens when you live so far away from people, Zero. Your social skills diminish greatly,_ he thought with resignation.

The pureblood's eyes lit up in understanding and said, "It looks like you're a vampire hunter. But then again, that still doesn't excuse you from roaming around the campus without any guide."

Zero huffed a disbelieving sigh and ran a hand through his hair. "You're a real nitpicky guy, aren't you? If you must know, I am here with my mentor on official hunter business. The chairman himself gave me permission to roam these grounds. Besides, it isn't as if I'm terrorizing anyone and I'm the only person on the grounds before you came along. And if you're bothered by me pointing a gun at you, then I apologize for the accident. Now that's over with, isn't it time for the both of us to part ways?"

Without waiting for a reply, he turned away and walked off in the opposite direction. He felt his irritation spike as he noticed that the pureblood was following him. "Will you stop following me already?" he blurted out.

"You still haven't told me your name," Kaname said. His tone had thawed almost to the point of being friendly.

"None of your business. It's not like we'll ever meet again after this. And for the record, I don't give my name to complete strangers," Zero replied automatically.

Kaname chuckled softly and said, "That's a rather confident statement. And my name is Kuran Kaname. Isn't it a common courtesy to introduce yourself as well? Who knows, we might meet each other in passing at the town."

"I'm not from here and I doubt I'll be staying here for too long. Besides, it's not encouraged for vampire hunters to fraternize with vampires let alone a pureblood vampire, Kuran-san," Zero said. He knew that what he said wasn't exactly the whole truth but the pureblood didn't need to know that. He needed to be left alone but this man was proving to be pretty persistent.

"Yet despite that, you are still having a conversation with me. Most hunters I've met usually ignored me or avoided me altogether. You're probably the first to speak so casually to me," Kaname said conversationally, a hint of a smile playing on his lips. "It's a bit refreshing so pardon me from finding you interesting. I think you'll be good company for this evening. Don't you feel the same?"

Zero pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's because you still won't leave me alone that we're having this conversation right now. Are you really going to follow me all night, Kuran-san? Don't you have anything more important to do than bother me," he said exasperatedly. When the pureblood still didn't leave. He sighed and said, "Fine then. Feel free to follow but don't expect me to accommodate you."

"Wait a moment."

The pureblood made a move to grasp his arm to stop him and reflex suddenly kicked in as he saw it from the corner of his eye. He flinched and moved to take a step back.

 _Crap! Too close!_ He thought with rising panic.

He didn't want to think about what would happen if the pureblood ended up hurt because of him. Not that it would take much to do so. Just a bit of skin to skin contact and instant pain would happen. If that Hiou Shizuka, who was also a pureblood, didn't stand a chance against his terrible gift, he was certain that neither would this vampire. Even if he hated Shizuka with a passion, Kuran Kaname was innocent of the crime she committed. This pureblood wasn't the one responsible for the death of his parents. Only she deserved death by his hands.

He felt agitated as he gazed at Kaname's shocked eyes. He didn't mean to react that way and he felt guilty at making it seem like he was disgusted by the pureblood. He knew he should have been left alone before something like this happened. Why did he always have to mess up when it concerned others?

The pureblood's eyes softened. "Something bad happened to you, hasn't it?" he asked gently.

Zero looked away. "It's definitely none of your business, Kuran-san…I…I need to go now!"

He dashed from the grounds, his thoughts centered on the emotional roller coaster that never seemed to end. He didn't even notice that he dropped something important in his haste to leave. Not a minute later, he arrived in front of the chairman's house.

 _What a mess._

He had lost his entire world by losing both his family and the woman he loved. He couldn't stop thinking about the tragedy and it was bringing him down into a pit of despair. Just as things were settling down, he had to bump into a pureblood who reminded him of things he could never have. And apparently, his presence was becoming unstable by the minute.

 _I'm a complete mess._

The walls felt like they were closing in on him and he knew he just had to get out of this place soon. He didn't think he could stand waiting for his mentor anymore. Hurriedly pulling the hood back on his head and checking his clothes, he headed out of the door. His dark form melted into the shadows as he headed towards the academy gates where he could leave and head back to town. He truly needed to distract his thoughts from going back to the past.

The time that started these tragedies…

He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and quickly dialed Kaito's number.

 **\- xXx -**

After that strange encounter with the hunter, Kuran Kaname roamed through Cross Academy in a semi-state of confusion.

He couldn't find the mysterious vampire hunter anywhere. After the incident in the forest, he had stood there frozen, thinking about the silver-haired hunter for almost half an hour until he realized that the night classes were almost over. No one, aside from his enemies, had ever run so quickly just to escape him. The hunter hadn't even returned to take back the silver chain he had accidentally dropped, and Kaname was pretty sure that the young man wouldn't be back any time soon.

Partly out of courtesy and a much, much larger part of curiosity, Kaname decided to hold onto the chain for safekeeping until he could finally return it to the hunter. Or he just wanted an excuse to meet the puzzling young man again.

He had noticed that the chain was imbibed with several runes and the power he felt it contained was quite something. Lower level vampires wouldn't be able to touch the artifact. It seemed that the silver-haired man was a top level hunter and it made him much more mysterious in the pureblood's eyes.

He truly felt like a budding stalker when he had asked Seiren to do a background check about the young man's identity. But she didn't find anything about the hunter. His personnel files was very hidden. Well, well. That piqued his interest much more.

He didn't want to acknowledge the fact, but the young hunter was very interesting. He had never met anyone or anything as interesting as the hunter. He truly enjoyed talking and bantering with the young man who treated him normally even though he knew about his pureblood status. He wanted that again and so he was content in waiting for a few days to seek out the vampire hunter again.

But after a while, his frustration was about to reach its boiling point.

Kaname couldn't feel the hunter's turbulent presence anywhere near the academy or anywhere in town, in fact.

 _He must've left this town…_

He cursed lightly at that.

The pureblood truly did want to meet the young hunter again. He was a refreshing change from the norm and a mystery too. He wondered why the hunter hid himself under all those layers of clothing. When he saw the young man up close, he thought the hunter was beautiful. That startling beauty rivaled those of a vampire and it was a real shame that the hunter apparently didn't want to show that to others.

Apparently, it was another mystery he wanted to solve.

This was just the distraction he needed for the moment. All the plotting against his enemies had grown a bit tiresome. None of the purebloods were making a move yet and the tediousness was getting to him. He needed something to occupy his time and that hunter seemed perfect for it.

 _I wonder when we'll meet again, hunter._

 **-xXx-**

Kiryuu Zero wondered which deity he pissed off.

He couldn't believe that his superiors went through with this proposal. It had been a full ten minutes already and he was still staring in disbelief at the mission papers he received. He had been on denial for a while now but this was proof right here. No amount of denying was going to change the fact that his mission involved Cross Academy.

 _Oh God,_ he thought with despair.

The damned pureblood he met a week ago would be there. And that vampire was the last person he wanted to cross paths with again especially after their last disastrous meeting.

"I don't think me doing this mission is a good idea," Zero commented as he sagged into the couch in despair.

Takamiya Kaito chuckled lightly, "Stop worrying so much. This is the problem with you. Always so negative."

"Well, we can't all be positive idiots like you, Kaito," the silver-haired hunter retorted.

"And so disrespectful to his senpai too. What happened to that shy and cute kouhai from years before?" Kaito answered back, amusement coloring his tone.

Zero gave him a dry look as he commented, "Stop saying such embarrassing things. If the other hunters could see you now, they'll stop admiring you and telling me how cool they find you or saying that I'm so lucky to be partnered with an amazing hunter."

"As if you could talk, Mr. 'I'm such a badass.' It's like the pot calling the kettle black."

Their daily banter was suddenly cut short by a loud voice screaming, "Zero-rin!"

The two looked up to see a long-haired man wearing glasses barrel into the room happily followed by a disgruntled dark-haired hunter. As soon as the man who screamed neared him, Zero pretended he didn't exist and looked away.

The man seeing that cried out, "How mean! Zero-rin, how could you ignore me? Your Papa's heart is now broken!"

"I don't recall ever being adopted by you!" The silverette stated in irritation. Why is it every time he met with this man, his irritation levels increased? He couldn't understand why Cross Kaien insisted on acting like an idiot.

"Touga-kun! Zero-rin is now entering the rebellious phase! What should I do?" The man in question asked in a panic.

"Cut the crap, Kaien. It's too early for this shit. This isn't the time for jokes," Touga stated seriously.

Kaito smirked as he watched the interaction from the sidelines. "Heh. Just as it was getting to the good part."

"Kaito."

The brown-haired hunter ruffled his hair and raised both hands up in surrender as he said, "All right. Jeez, shishou. You're going to get old real quick by being such a spoilsport."

Touga's expression was unamused as he gazed at his companions. "I'm surrounded by idiots," he commented tonelessly before he cleared his throat and continued, "Since this idiot here is of no help at all, I'll stop beating around the bush and tell you about this new mission you received. It's much important than you've realized. This isn't some run of the mill mission you've been doing lately. We can't afford any mishaps with this one. As you've already heard, Cross Academy is in the middle of a power play between pureblood factions. And you both know how dangerous those are. Not one of those bloodsuckers care about the collateral damage that would result in their infighting. That's why despite this being vampire affairs, we believe that the events would spill over to the human side given time. That is why we hunters are necessary to prevent that from happening. It's part of our job to investigate and eliminate the vampires who would cause that event to happen."

"A mission of this magnitude isn't normally handled by hunters like us," Zero stated seriously.

"You're right about that. But we managed to persuade the association to get you and by extension, Kaito-kun to handle this," Kaien said in a serious tone of voice.

Touga gazed at Zero in understanding. "I know you hate taking on missions in crowded places but we got a tip off that Hiou Shizuka might be involved. And if she's involved, your brother might not be far behind."

"Ichiru…" The young hunter said the name in sadness as he recalled the events four years back.

"You've been searching for him for years now and we haven't gotten any head start at all. This might be the chance you've been waiting for."

"Let's do this, partner," Kaito stated encouragingly as he draped an arm over Zero, bringing the young hunter back to the present.

"Look at you, already raring to go," Zero replied softly. Thanking his partner internally for the kind gesture.

"By the way, I'd almost forgotten. You two still need a good cover inside the school," Kaien said with happiness shining in his eyes. "Kaito-kun will be assigned as a teacher in training and Zero-rin a day class student."

Zero looked horrified as he said, "Are you out of your mind? You want me to stay with your students? Have you forgotten what I could do accidentally?"

"We haven't forgotten, kid," Touga stated calmly. "But it's a risk we need to take. Besides, there hasn't been an incident in years."

"Just dress like you always do and act like you normally do when you're on missions. You know the 'don't get close to me or I'll kill you vibe' you usually have," Kaito stated in a teasing tone.

Zero's expression was very blank following that statement. The young hunter resisted the urge to smack his partner on the head for that unnecessary comment.

"Kaito-kun's right," Kaien agreed enthusiastically. "Zero-rin could be so scary when he wants to be. But… I'm still excited! My son is finally going to study at my school!"

"Like I said, I'm not your son," he stated blandly, completely ignoring Kaien's tears of despair.

 _Everything is going to be a pain in the ass in this mission,_ the silver-haired hunter thought to himself. _Especially a pureblood vampire named Kuran Kaname_.

 **-chapter 01 end-**

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 **A/N:** This is another project I've planned many years back and sadly never got to publishing until this year. Hope you like this new take on their relationship and weird plot. Please read and review if you would like me to continue this one as well. :)


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